Could 19-year-old Deni Avdija be the Minnesota Timberwolves’ third star?
The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the clock with the No. 1-overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, which is less than a month away.
President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas has spoken publicly that the team has yet to identify a clear top prospect in this year’s draft, although he felt as though the front office was closing in on completing their analysis.
Illawarra Hawks guard LaMelo Ball and University of Georgia wing Anthony Edwards are the two players most commonly linked with Minnesota. A trade involving the Timberwolves’ draft pick will also continue to be a talking point in the days and minutes leading up to the draft on Nov. 18.
While Ball and Edwards may be the consensus options for the first pick, another name has been generating recent buzz and rapidly climbing many draft boards: 19-year-old forward Deni Avdija.
Avdija is an intriguing prospect from Israel who has spent the entirety of his professional career playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. On the surface his statistics in the EuroLeague are hardly noteworthy but his flashes of brilliance, especially in the FIBA U20 European Championships, have caught the eye of many NBA scouts.
A recent report suggested that Deni Avdija may even be in serious consideration for the Golden State Warriors, who hold the No. 2 pick in the draft. Other mock drafts have Avdija falling outside of the top 10.
Could Deni Avdija be an option for the Minnesota Timberwolves with either the No. 1 pick or a as a target in a draft night trade?
Let’s take a deeper look at the strengths and weaknesses that have made Deni Avdija one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2020 draft.